Here are some observations based on my experience growing up as a Australian of Triestin decent…
For many years growing, “italian”  was the language spoken at home, and I knew little more about Trieste than it was the city of birth of my parents, and some of its  landmarks featured in some tacky souveniours plastered around the home (“Castell de Miramar” and “San Giusto” featured prominently).

I’m not sure if this was the case with a lot of Triestins in Australian, but there’s large degrees of integration and assimilation with their adopted country.  Naturally, this could occur over a period of time anyway, but it seems Triestins become hybrids with their Australian culture.  I’m not sure if it is solely to do with the fairer features of the northern Italians and the accent of Triestins, that is already rich from the mix of cultures/ethnicity from the city, but they possibly lend themselves to “blend” in to their new Australian homeland over time.  Let me know what you think…

As an adult, I travelled to Trieste and soon after undertook Italian lessons.  From then began my own “cultural awakening”.  I didn’t really hear the Italian language as a child, but the Triestin dialect, and the differences were large.  The more lessons I had in Italian, the more adjusting I had to do.  Triestin to me, is enjoyable to hear, but it’s not Italian.  The extent of my Triestin was phrases heard during everyday living.  Most of the context it was used seemed to be around food, family, and home.  Take the following examples: “Sera la porta”, “Spissa la luce”, and “ciol el peron”.
Besides reminding me of my childhood, Triestin is easy on my ears.  The last syllables are dropped from verbs in their infinitive form (for example, “giocar”, “morir”) and nouns (“Trieste” is “Triest”; “Triestino” is “Triestin”), and some words are softened (“mangiare” becomes “maniar”; “chi-“ is replaced with “ci-“).  The city’s language, culture and cuisine have influences from its Austro-Hungarian patronage and from its slavic neighbours, all mingled into its predominantly Italian base.

To me, Trieste began to get more interesting as time went on.  Stories of Napoleon, multi-culturalism (before it become P.C./trendy), let’s say “poor alignment” in two World Wars, a source of fine coffee/beer/scotch, Italianisation under Mussolini, a hangout for famous authors, a most politically sought city after WW2 but later neglected, are just some of the subjects I’ve touched on.

I’d like to hear your experiences as a Triestin, or from knowing Triestini.  Post them here.

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